


A Change of Heart

by ar_labryinth



Category: Holes (2003), Holes (2003) RPF
Genre: Communication, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Male-Female Friendship, Personal Growth, Pining, Romance, Slow Build, Strong Female Characters, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:33:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27736147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ar_labryinth/pseuds/ar_labryinth
Summary: With a temper that hardly anyone dares to refute, Aveline is forced to cope with her environment when the judge sentences her to a correction facility in hopes of a drastic change of behavior.Located in the middle of the desert, and forced to do harsh manual labor in the blazing heat of the sun, Aveline understands all too well that this is her last chance to fix her increasing volatile hatred toward the male gender before she gets into more damaging trouble.And did we mention this camp was primarily populated by men?One thing Aveline never expected was a budding friendship with one of the residents that is turning into something she can't quite explain- as well as previous trauma that is threatening to resurface.
Relationships: Zigzag (Holes)/Original Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Camp Green Lake

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a long story consisting of character growth and overcoming personal trauma for O/C and Zigzag. I also wanted a fic where the male falls first and is a gentlemen so I guess this is my guilty pleasure as well lol.

The harsh rays of the sun burned her body terribly - the window only magnifying the heat in the 80 degree weather. She just started the bus ride- transferring to the camp she was suppose to attend for the next 18 months.

"This is worse than an oven..." mumbled Aveline, a crack in her voice as the nervousness seeped through the dryness of her throat. Silence met her remark, considering she was the only passenger here besides the two officers in the front.

She glared enviously at the thinner of the two, sitting by the entrance with a cold beverage by his feet. He too unashamedly stared her down with an equal if not worse glare of his own. Quietly edging her on for any sudden movements while his shotgun perched on his lap. 

"As if I was stupid enough to fight or jump out of a moving vehicle," Aveline grumbled in her thoughts. The handcuffs scraping her wrists tightly as if to reassure her of the reality she was in.

This was rock bottom in her already miserable life, she thought as her hand wiped the sweat away from her eyelids.

But then again no one in town was surprised when she had finally gotten into trouble with the law, severe trouble. Only amazed with the few details that emerged later on.

At this point, it almost felt like a dream - the days passing in a blur. From being held in prison awaiting the court date. To this disgusting bus ride in the desert.

Flashback to earlier that week 

"Aveline Bardot- you have been warned multiple times," a firm voice ahead of her spoke. His face staring at the young 16 year old below his altar, "Why is it that everytime I see you, despite the counseling you recieve, you manage to get into an altercation with another person?" 

"He was asking for it." Spat Aveline in return, her knuckles bruised dark blue with scrapes of red.

Mr.Lauren, the judge, sighed at her response. Fixing her files placed on the desk. He wondered what to do.

Aveline was smart- intelligent even - if you looked past her short fuse. But fighting, nonetheless with men, would one day be the end of her. She had to learn to control her temper and at the rate she was going, counseling wouldn't be there to save her in time. 

"Take her outside while I speak to Ms. Nevik." He ordered the guards, his eyes shifting to the door and then to the counselor. 

Ms.Nevik had been helping her cope through her reactions for a few months now, things were looking brighter but this last incident had thrown those months of progress into the trash.

The victim in hand was the ex boyfriend (or atleast Aveline hoped) of her older sister. Actions were done, and words were said. One thing led to another and somehow in a blur of rage she ended up ontop of him with her knuckles connecting with his nose. A loud crack echoed the room as her sister attempted to hold her back. Much of what happened after could only be recalled in a haze of adrenaline and police sirens.

Ms. Nevik stepped out the courts room, walking towards her parents first, her mother and sister crying their eyes out as they heard the verdict of the judge. Her shrink Ms. Nevik giving a defeated smile to Aveline's father as she explained the situation. Her father nodded solemnly. Despite their sad reactions they had refused to speak with her after the latest events. To angry and upset to even be in the same room across from her.

Ms. Nevik gave a few words and then nodded to Aveline's parents, turning away and walking over to Aveline as the guards were handed her verdict and file.

"How bad is it?" Aveline asked as she tapped her foot on the floor.

"Not terribly, I'd say..." Ms. Nevik started, her nails tapping on her personal folder, "Look Ave its a lose/win situation, I've managed to convince Mr. Lauren to avoid pressing charges considering you're under legal age. But this is the last time I can bail you out of trouble,"

"Patrick deserved everyth-" 

"No Aveline what you've done has no excuse!" Shunned the counselor, stopping her patient mid sentence.

The young girl sat angrily, huffing in defiance as she glared at her lap.

Ms. Nevik continued in her regular tone, "We've decided the best course of action would be to send you to Camp Green Lake, there you must contemplate and learn to cope with this unhealthy and ridiculous hatred of yours."

"You'll be accommodated for safety, but will be the only girl at camp for 18 months. You have to learn to control that temper of yours"

Aveline stood at the realization of what her words meant, being the only girl filled in a camp of atrocious animals? Because that's exactly what all men were to her. 

How crazy were these people to send her to a place filled hormonal boys? This was a death sentence for her.

Her hands trembled with rage,"You can't do this! That's a danger to even do that! What about my rights? This is against the law!"

"And breaking that man's nose wasn't? Would you rather have the charges pressed against you instead?" Her counselor hushed angrily in return, her voice a harsh whisper, "This is a favor to your future- your record, learn and grow from this Ave. By the time you get out you'll almost be 18. You'll be in jail or dead if this continues."

Before the young girl could get another word the counselor told the guards to take her away.

Body being nudged to the exit, she looked back. Her family turning the other direction in rejection as she was being sent away.

"You can't do this!" She yelled to no effort.

_________________________________________

The bus gave a sudden jerk as it drove over a pothole, waking up the young teenager from a dream of her past. 

"A few more minutes.." The police officer muttered as he saw her beginning to wake.

Aveline snapped herself out of her dreamy thoughts and peered over the window. Curiosity swelled inside her, wondering what her new home would look for the next year and a half. But disbelief and then anger started to seep out of her as she noticed she was in the middle of the desert. What the hell? she quickly sat on the other row of seats as she looked out the window where she confirmed her suspicions. Yup this was it. A legit middle of nowhere desert.

And strangely enough hundreds of holes were scattered across the area as they drove past, she began to see at the horizon of her vision bits of random movement from over the mysterious holes. Like bits of dirt being thrown to the side.

Raising her eyebrow she observed more closely as she saw that those small movements were actually boys in orange jumpsuits. But why are they inside there? She thought as she looked at all the holes on the ground.

Mentally noting the drastic raise of temperature, because it had to be over 100 degrees. She moved on to her next question; Why are there so many random holes?

A shimmering light caught her attention from the corner of her eye, quickly facing the direction it came from her facial expression turned from curiousity to horror realization. 

The shiny light led to a metallic and wooden handle shovel on the ground that a young boy (probably around 11 or 12) had placed outside the hole as he climbed out of it. He wiped the dirt off his hands and shook his head to shake off all the dirt that had fallen on his afro-puffy hair while he was digging.

Aveline whispered in horror,"Oh. Hell. No." as she managed to add two plus two together. In this case; Mysterious holes + boys in orange jumpsuits + shovels adding to Juvenile detention center instead of four .

"Ahaha.." she crazily began to laugh under her breath as she held her hands tightly on her lap. This was no Camp Green Lake - if this place were to have a befitting name it'd probably be Camp Desert Labor. 

First thing she was going to do as soon as she was able to was write a very explicit letter to her dear, SOON-TO-BE-FIRED Therapist: Ms. Nevik. 

"She is so going to- Oh I'll make sure that bastard stupid old wrinkled b-" Her thoughts once again were brought to an end as the bus jerked to a sudden stop. Having arrived to the destination.

"We're getting off here." The sheriff yawned in boredom, clearly tired of the long ride.

Her dark brown hair was still a rustled mess from where it was placed on the window while she slept. Despite it not being waist long like before (having cut it to a few inches below her shoulder), it was still knotted at the ends, the buses chaotic driving encouraging the entanglement.

She rubbed her eyes with her handcuffed wrist, the police officer motioning her towards the exit. She walked quietly. Her thoughts a mess as she took in the surroundings while stepping down the bus. A large building was infront with multiple doors scattered every 15 feet or so. 

The officer grabbed the links of the cuffs as Aveline flinched away in distrust. 

"I'm taking them off, now stop squirming." He ordered, his badge in clear sight, Patterson.

She complied and stayed still as he unlocked and put away the cuffs. Allowing her to massage her wrists and to quickly fix her backpack. 

"We're headed to that door in the far end." Patterson instructed, motioning her to follow him as he led her passed the shabby and worn down deck.

The building was vacant for now with mostly digging back where they had previously driven. Aveline was thankful she could atleast avoid the commotion. She grabbed her grey baseball hat and placed it over her messy bed head.

Patterson opened the door, allowing her to step in first. She passed by him while studying the room, across from her sat an older man with hair slicked back in gel. Tattoos littered his wristt and he was dressed in some comical attempt of a cowboy- minus the hat. Behind him she could see a window that showed the cafeteria behind her. 

She could see a few boys in orange jumpsuits eating in large tables much like school. Thankfully no one seemed to notice she was in the other room.

The warden- whom Aveline suspected he was motioned her to sit across from him.

Aveline sat down in front of the desk quietly.

"What's with the sunflower seeds, man?" Patterson questioned as he handed the man her files.

"I give up smokin'," the man responded lazily, spitting the shell into a small jar infront of him.

"Disgusting..." thought Aveline.

The old man gazed down at the files as he read the name aloud, "Aveline Bardot," he looked up at the short girl infront of him 5'3 with a light tan and short wavy hair that curled at the bottom. "What's with the weird last name?"

"Its from my great great grandfather... french." Aveline muttered. her nails tapping on her knees. She hated her file being read as she sat across. 

The judgments clearly warranted, but not enough of the story could be assessed from a couple sheets of paper.

"You'll address me as Mr.Sir, whenever you speak to me you'll call me by my name. Understood?" Aveline couldn't help chuckling at the stupid name. 

"You think that's funny, huh?"

"No Mr. Sir." Aveline smirked sarcasticly. No shit it was funny, how could one not laugh?

Mr. Sir stood and walked across the room, "This isn't a girl scout camp, yet somehow you ended up here for causing trouble." He walked to a mini fridge and pulled out a coke, seeming to pass it to her.

Aveline almost went for it, she hadn't had a drink in hours, but as her arm reached to grab it Mr. Sir tauntingly said not her and passed it to the guard in front of her. "Not for your bag o'tricks."

Aveline clenched her fists to control her temper. That was uncalled for and he clearly knew what he was doing. 

Patterson grabbed the coke and pitifully looked at her as he went back to his spot. He felt bad for her despite glaring her down before. It was his job to keep inmates in check and he held no particular hard feelings for the teenage girl.

"You thirsty, Bardot?" Mr. Sir continued to taunt.

Aveline licked her dry lips, mumbling, "Yes, Mr. Sir."

"Well you better get used to it. You're gonna be thirsty for the next 18 months" Mr. Sir laughed in response.

Aveline looked away, biting her tongue and hoping it would be enough to keep her attitude and venomous words in check.

Mr. Sir walked out the room and Aveline had no choice but to follow. By now most of the residents were done eating and the few boys that were there stared her down in disbelief as she walked along side the man in charge.

Aveline adjusted her posture and held her head high in defiance, she wasn't going to let everyone see how intimidated she was being away from home and being the only girl in camp.

Mr. Sir continued to remind her of the lack of security at camp and warned Aveline that if she ran away he wouldn't stop stop her. 

Aveline looked at him in disbelief and knew that in the hot weather she wouldn't get very far. 

"Why don't you come over here and keep me company pretty lady?" A teenage boy who appeared Aveline's age whistled from across the place, huddled in a group of friends.

"I'm warning you!" yelled Mr. Sir, the group the voice came from dispersed, Aveline's eyes narrowed at anyone who dared to stare her down.

"If anyone tries anything I'll give them something to talk about." Her tongue started to bleed a bit as she suppressed her anger. 

Just a bit more then I can find a place to be alone.. she reassured herself.

Mr. Sir faced the girl again, "Back to what I was saying, we're the only water source for a 100 miles. If you try to run the animals will get your trace clean by the 3rd day."

He walked inside another building, the inside filled with the orange jumpsuits everyone wore. Mr. Sir eyed your figure quick and looked for the uniform that would best fit her, which would be hard considering men's sizes were already big and she was a petite 5'3. Under her age range height.

Across from Mr. Sir stood another boy (Of course this camp was littered by them), with hair slicked back like a greaser, he was taller than Ave, almost everyone was but he was about 6 feet. And just like that she knew she would hate that guy. Anyone taller than her was a threat in her opinion. The boy in turn rubbed his eyes in disbelief, how could a girl be here? He hadn't seen any in the whole year he was serving. The heat must be getting to him, he thought. 

Mr. Sir threw some shoes on the floor and tossed Ave a jumpsuit. "We're both gonna step out while you undress." He pointed half threatening at her, "You don't grab anything except the extra pair of clothes I left here on the table."

He snatched the backpack from her shoulder for insurance and barked at her to undress while the boy behind her did a last double take and walked out with Mr. Sir. 

Aveline looked at them uncomfortably, she then made sure to pick a corner to change in where no one could look at her. She picked the flimsy and dirty jumpsuit as she removed her clothes and placed it on.

It fit baggy, as she expected, but otherwise it wasn't as bad. Atleast her figure wasn't in tight clothes for the men at camp to drool over. From what she witnessed she was bound to get some crude remarks her way. Lastly, she put the shoes on that thankfully were her size.

Mr. Sir knocked loudly, "Quit taking your time Bardot." 

"I'm not, Mr. Sir. I'm done." She responded, Mr. Sir opened the door and tossed her backpack to her moving his head to tell Ave to follow him out. 

Mr.Sir grabbed a shovel from the side of the door before exiting and handed it to her, "You'll have an extra pair of clothes for work, and every 3 days we'll wash your clothes. You're to dig one hole each day. 5-foot deep, 5-foot diameter. Your shovel is your measuring stick." 

She stared at the shovel in disbelief. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The shovel was practically her height! And they wanted to dig that much?

"You need to keep alert for lizards and rattlesnakes. You don't bother them they won't bother you. Understood?"

Aveline listened quietly and nodded, arguing wouldn't help her out she figured

"Yellow spotted lizards are the most dangerous. They bite you, they kill you. Avoid them and let me know so I can kill it." Mr. Sir pointed at a pictured on the building that showed the lizard he mentioned.

As Aveline turned around a man in high socks and shorts, with a large sun hat and sunscreen covering his nose approached them. 

" Aveline Bardot?," He questioned while looking her up and down disgustingly. She nodded at him with a frown. 

"Just wanted to let you know you may have done some bad things, but that doesn't make you a bad kid." Ah. That explained it. This was going to be her new counselor for camp. No one sprouted that bullshit unless it was someone who counseled.

And from the looks of it, Aveline was going to hate this guy the most. 

The counselor went up to her and introduced himself as Mr.Pendanski. "I respect you Aveline, and I welcome you to Camp Greenlake." He tried to shake her hand but she moved away from him and instead eyed him, "Okay?"

He put his hand back towards his side ignoring the jab if rudeness, "Now if you just follow me I'm going to continue your tour."

"On your right you'll see the mess hall. There's the rec room. And there's the showers. Luckily enough considering your situation, you'll be able to use the shower in the wardens personal cabin." 

Aveline sped walk behind him, her arms jittered with an empty gallon of water and extra clothes and towels. 

"I can't shower in Mr. Sirs cabin," Aveline worriedly replied. Eyeing the exposing showers that the public were to use. They didn't give an ounce of privacy to those who shower.

"Mr. Sir aint the warden, Warden is up in that cabin at the far end passing the showers, she's a quiet lady you won't run into her often but that's where you'll get your showers and other personal items" Mr.Pendanski cringed while continuing, "the feminine ones for the month. Anyways try to not bother her or get on her bad side. Okay? On the far opposite of rec hall you'll find your tent."

Aveline eyed the Warden's cabin quickly and saw it was the nicest one there. It had a brick chimney and an old well cared for car on the driveway. A couple of boys were washing it as Mr.Pendanski continued the tour. 

Mr. Pendanski led Aveline to a bunch of tents lined up against one another. "You'll be sleeping in Tent 'D'. Stands for diligence."

Aveline peered inside and noticed a row of beds on each side of the tent, "You can't have me sleep with the rest of the population."

"Look ma'am, thats the best we can do for you. You're already getting special treatment by using the warden's restroom. This is the best behaved group on site. You'll be fine."

Ave eyed the counselor uncomfortably and followed him in the tent. "You'll be sleeping on Lewis's old bed right here."

Grimacing at the stains on bed Aveline faced the interior of the room. "Your tent mates are probably still out working, so just get situated and comfortable and you can introduce yourself when they return."

Aveline nodded in return and then noticed a small boy, no older than 11 laying in the bed across from her. He stared in return, curls decorating his head in an adorable manor. She somewhat remembered him as the young boy that exited the hole earlier that day.

Mr.Pendanski noted the exchange and spoke. "Oh don't mind him, his name is Zero or atleast that's what everyone calls him," Ave watched as he walked over to Zero and placed his hands on the top of his head, "you want to know why? 'Cause there's nothing goin' on in his stupid little head." He ruffled his hair tauntingly.

Sure. Aveline had a short temper. She got in shitty situations that ended her in this mess and for her worth, she thought she had managed a swell of a job keeping her thoughts to her self. But the minute she saw the sorry excuse of a counselor bully the poor child she lost the last bit of restraint she had. 

She went over to him in the blink of and eye and tightened her hand around his wrist. "If you so much as put your filthy rat covered shit of a hand near this child again I'll break that fucking hand of yours." She spat, unable to care for the consequences of her words.

The counselor froze in response as he eyed her angry hazel eyes. 

"I know you read my file Mr. Pendanski." She threw his wrist to the side, "Get the hell out of here before I lose my restraint." 

Mr. Pendaski snapped out of the trance he was in and choked on his cough. He wasn't expecting the harshness of her voice considering how quiet she was before. "We'll work on your tone later. I'll go look for your tentmates" He squeaked while practically running out the cot. The young boy, Zero, stared at her in disbelief.

"What a piece of shit. Does everyone treat you like that?" Aveline looked at the young boy. Zero looked down and slowly nodded his head. Before him stood a small teenage girl, with hazel colored eyes and short curly hair that was dark brown, tiny freckles adorned her nose (you could hardly tell unless the sun shined directly on her face) and with a small nose and plump lips that complimented her face- Zero quietly noted she was pretty.

Despite her hate for men, she wasn't cold-hearted enough to treat children that way. He hasn't gone through the stupid adolescence the others have. It gave her heart a deep pang at the hurt she knew he must be going through. She knelt to his eye level and said in a calmer tone, "If you don't want to speak to me it's fine, but I won't let anyone bully you in front of me." 

His eyes widened, Aveline was only a few inches taller than him but she had a tone of confidence in her words. She lightly punched his arm, "Hey man, just 'cause I'm short doesn't mean I don't pack a mean punch." She smiled at him and continued, "And look I can use a friend of sorts atleast until I get acquainted. Deal?" 

Zero nodded at her words and she stood to fix her bed. 

She'll take it a step at a time. Starting by flipping the mattress first, changing the bedsheets, and working up a plan of sorts while the tent was alone. She could survive for 18 months. Right? She had to.


	2. First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aveline is finally introduced to DTent and a bit more of her rebellious and hostile behavior is shown! What kind of troubles do you think they'll endure?

Under the suns scrutiny, Zigzag placed his shovel down as he sat on the edge of the hole he'd just dug. He needed about 30 more minutes to finish, hoping to escape the heat before mid afternoon- when the sun burned the worst throughout the day. 

The teen boy picked up his canteen of water that sat next to him and began to drink it, attempting to cool himself as best he could. Only taking a few gulps every 20 minutes or so, since the gallon was only filled at the beginning of their dig. He turned to look at the youngest boy of the camp, Zero, jumping out of his hole as he walked back towards camp. He scratched the back of his neck and wondered how he managed to finish digging his hole first.

"Looks like camps getting someone new." X-ray declared loudly to the D-tent group as he used his right hand to cover the top of his glasses from the sun's glare.

His left index finger pointing towards the bus that drove closer to camp.

"You think he's coming to our tent?" Squid mumbled as he chewed on his toothpick, squinting his eyes to get a better view. His orange jumpsuit zipped down all the way to his hips, sleeves tied around him just like any other day. Leaving only his undershirt exposed. 

"Who knows. Our tents the only one with an extra, I wouldn't be surprised if he is." Magnet responded as he joined the conversation, his Mexican accent hardly visible in his speech. His bandanna wrapped confidently around his head in an attempt to protect him from the sun.

"It's only been three day's since Barfbag left..." frowned Zigzag, he hopped back down and continued to dig his hole. Causing dirt to dust all over his clothes and hair in the process. He ruffled his hair in an attempt to brush the dirt off, but his blond hair only dusted in different directions causing it to be messier than before.

"Yeah, man. They could have atleast waited a week or two." Armpit grumbled as he rubbed his burning eyes, trying to wipe away the dirt that fell in them.

"We'll just have to make sure to give them our D-Tent greeting if he's our new roommate." X-Ray smirked as he continued to dig. 

Oh this was going to be fun, they all thought simultaneously. But little did they know that the new resident for Camp Green Lake was a young teenage girl with a bad temper. 

_________________________________________

Aveline was somewhat pleased with how she fixed the bed, new sheets adorned the mattress and it look much improved from before. She had even gotten the missing pillow back from another bed that mysteriously had two. 

Despite sleeping back in the bus, and having a terrible thirst from the heat... Ave layed down and covered her face with the pillow. Her back was killing her from the long bus ride, and she needed to stretch her worn muscles out while she could. She rolled onto her stomach and made sure the pillow continued to cover her head (a weird habit she always had). 

Zero stared quietly from his bed, he couldn't grasp what happened before. One minute he's in the tent alone, and the next there's a girl defending him and offering a sort of partnership. That said girl was now laying right across from him. Perhaps sleeping? He thought as he got of his bed and momentarily stepped out to use the restroom and perhaps do her the favor of filling up her empty canteen as thanks. 

He wondered how the rambunctious group of D-Tent would react to seeing her in the camp, nonetheless, sleeping in their cot. Zero hoped they didn't do anything drastic or mean to her, because from what he witnessed, she would retaliate.

Oh, but Zero had bad timing. Destiny seemed to have other plans for the young and careless girl in the tent. Aveline had no clue at how much her life would change in the next few minutes.

As soon as Zero exited the room, Zigzag had went in to fetch his young roommate. Missing him by a few minutes. Walking inside he didn't see the young child on his bed and considered no one else was in the room. But as he turned to exit, an orange fabric caught his eye and he had managed to pause his movements. Laying on Barfbag's old bed, lay a new figure that shielded away from his view. He noted that the pillow he stole lay back on the new boy's head.

Silently heading towards the beds direction, he leaned in closer trying to get a better view, but the guy's identity lay hidden from him. Only silent snores could be heard. Aveline had somehow slept once again, most likely exhausted from the long ride and didn't notice the new person in the room. 

"Well... Squid was right." Zigzag mumbled as he recalled their conversation from earlier. He wondered how to go about waking the new tent mate when a mischievous idea had formed. He rubbed his calloused hands together, "this is going to be hilarious." 

Placing both hands under the mattress... he let out a small chuckle as he quickly flipped it over. Successfully tossing the teenager with it, a quick thought of the bed not being heavy crossed his mind as the body was shoved effortlessly into the air.

"Rise and Shine!"

Aveline's eyes snapped open in panic, momentarily seeing the boy that threw her. His arms still raised in the act, as he exclaimed the morning greeting. Her eyes widened comically at the horror of being thrown of guard. Literally thrown of guard.

Her arms managed to cover the sides of her face as she made impact with the floor. That was definitely going to bruise.

Rolling on the floor, her hand rested on her forehead as she tried to slow the racing of her heart. That was definitely one of the worst ways to be woken up! Oh my god, how did she not have a freaking heart attack!? She was scared shitless. 

Letting out an uneasy breath, she opened her eyes, anger rushing in full speed throughout her veins as the panic faded away. "Someone is getting punched." She cursed out as she sat up to make eye contact once again with the blonde boy infront of her. She studied him with a scowl on her face.

His mouth opening and closing at a loss for words. He was tall, taller than she'll ever be and that somehow infuriated her more. He wasn't scrawny for his height and she guessed it had to do with all the digging they did at camp. Out of control hair that pointed in multiple directions, it appeared that lightning had struck him.

Standing up, she brushed her clothes angrily, and albietly humiliated in shame. Her pride took an even worse blow and if she admitted to herself all the events that led her to this point in time could make her cry. She was so tired and dehydrated. Couldn't a girl just get a moments rest?

But she pushed those weak feelings aside and stood on the mattress to become taller. She grabbed him by the neck outline of his jumpsuit. His light blue eyes still wide in panic (or was it worry?), as he faced her more closely.. She noted his orange jumpsuit and face were covered in filth.

The minute he threw hi -cough- it off the bed he knew something was off. Either he wss freakishly strong or that person was underweight. And as that said person layed on the floor, he could see bumps on their chest as they breathed to control their jumpscare. 

His jaw dropped open as he was left with only one... well two ideas.

This form infront of was either an hallucination (which he shouldn't have consideration he was on strict medication) or ... an actual girl.

He didn't know what scared him more. But as she marched towards him and stood on the mattress he sucked in a breath of air and saw her scowling at him. 

"What the FUCK is wrong with you?" She yelled as she shook him. 

He could only stare into her furious and might he say gorgeous hazel eyes as he shouted back, "How was I suppose to know you were a girl?"

"And if I was a boy it'd be fine to do that? You know how shitty that response is?" She continued to shake him, deciding on giving him an earful before anything else. "I won't let you punk on me just because I'm new you overgrown deliquent!" Aveline pulled him close, her hands still firmly grasped on his suit, placing her foot firmly on his torso she used her sudden jerk forward to kick him back, letting go of his clothes and causing him to stumbled and fall backwards.

Zigzag sat a few feet by the entrance, his stomach aching from the force of her shove. A small footprint oitlined on his jumpsuit. Honestly, if he wanted to, he could have avoided being thrown- he clearly had more strength than her and could have protected his stance a bit more. Not to mention she was standing on Barfbag's old bed.. but he was caught off guard with the confusion of having a teenage girl pull him forward, and with the fact that he kind of deserved it for throwing her off earlier.

He landed with an "oof!" as he rubbed his stomach to ease the jab. "I deserved that-" he said shamelessly.

Unbeknownst to the current tension, another teenage boy ran in the room.

"Zigzag! Have you heard the rumour?" Squid gasped in between breathes. He was crouching with his hands on his knees as he faced the floor with his eyes shut, unaware of the scene infront of him.

"They're saying a girl was signed into camp, Mambo and Rugrat swear they saw one!" When he didn't recieve a response, he looked up "I call dibs-" his voice gave out when he realized his friend shaking his head im his direction. Mouthing him, "Squid shut the hell up."

"Why are you on the floor?" questioned Squid, his face turning to the direction Zigzag shifted his eyes to in a hurry.

Once Squid had stared at Aveline, she wiped her hands of the dirt that stuck from Zigzags jumpsuit. Jumping gracefully off the bed, her arm reached over for her baseball cap that layed on the corner of the bed and placed it on her head. She had previously left it jammed in the corner of the frame before falling asleep, avoiding having it thrown off the bed with her. 

She eyed them both in distrust, wondering if it was the best course of action to kick the guy that now sat on the floor. It seemed as if he wasn't going to retaliate so she she shifted her eyes quickly to analyze the other boy that wore a hat much like her own and weirdly held a toothpick in his mouth.

He in return stared at the angry girl, her brown eyebrows raised from his previous statements about the rumors circulating around the camp. Especially at the idiocricry of the teens trying to throw claims on her as if she was property to be bought.

"So it was true," Squid said, looking over at Zigzag as he stood "that still doesn't answer why you were on the floor." And as he continued to look around the room he saw the pillow along with an unknown backpack thrown across the floor.

"I fell." Zigzag muttered, unwilling to share the events that had transpired.

Aveline shifted her vision back at Zigzag and nodded, "That's right, he fell." She knew when to simmer her attitude and play her cards right. 

If the guy wasn't going to explain then neither was she. "What are you both doing in here?" asked Aveline, her voice a harsh and unfriendly tone, she began to pick her items from the dirty floor.

"This is our tent, you got assigned here?" Squid answered enthusiastically while he stepped toward the girl.

She noticed him and narrowed her eyebrows at his proximity. "Unfortunately.."

Meanwhile, Aveline was trying to quietly shove her things back in her backpack thankful that none of her sleeping items had fallen out, she mused over the situation.. So clearly they lied about keeping me safe in here. How could they leave me in a tent with a bunch of barbarians? How will I sleep or relax? And as her hands touched her extra bra that was at the top of her bag she felt her tan cheeks flush at the realization. How will I change in here?

Zigzag examined her facial expressions and noticed the hints of worry that flashed over her as the situation settled in. He truly felt bad for throwing her off. Sure he'd punk on guys without a care, but he wouldn't treat girls that way. He didn't care if friends called him a simp for treating them with an unspoken respect. Being raised by a single mother gave him a certain appreciation and understanding for the hardships they had to ender in a male dominated world. 

"This cot isn't bad, we're actually one of the more calmer mates you can have here in Green Lake." Zigzag said reassuringly.

Squid raised an eyebrow at his choice of words and the taller boy nudged his friend's shoulder. Silently telling him to get a clue. His friend frowned in confusion and then changed the subject, "What's your name?"

Aveline placed her bag back onto the bed, but as she was about to speak she saw Zero walking into the room.

Zero hadn' meant to take as long as he did, but the lines to the restroom were longer than expected as the majority of the camp dwellers came back from digging their holes. He looked over at a group in worry once he heard the gossip surrounding a new campmate- a female campmate- had been assigned to D-Tent. He grabbed the canteens he had filled earlier and rushed to the tent, hoping to be there before any of his other roommates arrived. 

Aveline gave a small smile at the younger boy as he walked in, his chest heaving as if he'd ran. Noticing two canteens on each of his hands she noticed he'd gone to fill hers with water. 

Her heart gave a small squeeze at the favor, and she was equally thankful that he wasn't in the room to see her being picked on by the tall boy named Zigzag. 

Zero handed her the gallon of water, in his usual quiet manner."You didn't have to, thanks." Aveline spoke sincerely. Her voice a calmer and sweet tone compared to the harshness of before. Squid could only look and nod as he gave Zero imaginary points at the smoothness of it all.

The puffy haired boy, Zigzag, had his eyes trained on the mysterious girl who had yet to reveal her name to them. His ears felt hot when he managed to catch a small grin that appeared on her face, showing pearly whites for only a millisecond, had he looked away he'd miss the small interaction. Wait were those dimples? His heart skipped a beat and he looked away, rustling his hair as he got distracted in his thoughts.

Aveline coughed at her sudden break of character and noticed Mr.Pendanski entering the room, leading a group of teen boys just a few feet behind him.

It didn't take long for Aveline to notice she had kicked the tallest of the group, the one who refused to look in her direction and had flushed cheeks.

Probably embarrassed that I dropped him, she smirked in thought.

"Aveline Bardot!" Hollered Mr. Pendanski, "Glad you have the other three of your new bunk mates in the room!"

He motioned his arms toward the group, Aveline could see three new teens she had yet to meet. The first was a latino male slighter tanner than her, she figured it was from the harsh rays of the sun. He wore a bandana and smiled at her in politeness once she made eye contact. In front of him was the second male, a chubby guy that was covered in sweat, his hands covered in blisters and callouses from digging so much. He whispered over to the last boy in the group. This last teen, appeared a bit annoyed by this whole occurrence. She could feel him glaring at her despite his glasses hiding his eyes from her. 

In truth, X-Ray was upset that his old tentmate was being replaced, and that he had to continue digging while his friend stayed far away from this place.

"I'm going to introduce you to your new friends okay?" Mr. Pendanski smiled forcefully as he pointed towards the glasses wearing boy first. 

"This here is Rex."

"The name's X-Ray." Rex commented soon after. Aveline nodded in response.

Pendanski grabbed the shoulder of the shorter, chubby male and introduced him next. " This is Theodor-."

X-Ray interrepted in a harsher tone, "It's Armpit to you."

Avwline understood the nickname right away as the stench of sweat hit her nose. Damn.. they don't give out deodorants here? She scrunched her face at the odor and looked over at the bandana teen. "This is Jose." 

Jose gave a mocking bow and said, "I go by Magnet here." Aveline tapped her foot in annoyance at his friendly presence and looked over at Pendanski as he finished the last two boys that were previously there. 

He pointed at the one holding a toothpick first, and then pointed at the messy haired boy. "And lastly, this is Alan and Ricky."

X-Ray frowned at the end of the exchange, "We don't go by that, those two are Squid and Zigzag. Everyone here is called by their nickname." 

Who made up these childish ass nicknames? questioned Ave.

Pendanski gave an exasperated sigh as if he's had this argument countless of times, "Will I like to go by the names society will remember you by, Rex." 

"Not in here, we go by our nicknames."  
X-Ray responded in anger. Aveline noted that this was a heavy topic for the teens as she watched them all nod in agreement at their friend 'Or maybe he's there leader?'

She'll try to remember their nicknames, just to avoid causing unnecessary trouble while she stayed there.

"Okay will your new female companion," Aveline cringed at the counselors choice of words, hating the verbal acknowledgment of her gender as he gave her introduction. "Aveline Bardot, go ahead and greet your mates." He ushered lastly.

Aveline awkwardly stared at the boys in front of her, thankful that the introduction was over. She sighed, might as well get this over with. 

"Nice to meet you, roommates." Watching the group in defiance she glared at them as she spoke, spitting on the floor and rubbing her foot in a silent threat as she indicted she wanted nothing to do with any of them.

Like hell I'm letting any of these punks try to intimidate or deceive me into being friends with them. She scorned, knowing what men were about. 

All of them. She wouldn't fall for their tricks of sweet lies or harsh threats.

She knew that if she didn't comply with their demands, they'd switch their personalities to push her. Because, you see, Aveline grew up in a house filled with women. Her father usually away at work, she didnt complain because she knew someone had to bring food to the table.. But the problem lay that no males- whether parental or in the form of brothers- lived to protect and guide the idiot choices of her older and younger sisters. It rested on Aveline to defend her family from unwanted whistles and catcalls, stupid teens that thought they could verbally abuse her sisters, and other obnoxious reasons. 

Thanks to this heavy burden of responsibility she gained an unfair dislike towards the male gender. 

Wanting absolutely nothing to do with them, she swore she would get the courage to fight back and defend her family from any men. No men will look down at her because of her gender and force her to submit.

Locking eyes with the ringleader of the group, her glare deepened.

An unspoken exchange passed between the two, her eyebrows furrowed in disdain as her eyes carried the message: Try me, bitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reuploading chapters from my account on Wattpad :) 
> 
> Comment what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Readers!
> 
> This is my first publication and I'm hoping to able to increase my writing skills. Sorry the chapters are so long and if there's any errors in my sentences or grammar, I have no beta reader and it gets difficult spotting errors after re-reading multiple times. 
> 
> Let me know what you think and if you want anything added into the story as it progresses. I have a main idea of where this story is heading and am looking forward to finally writing it all out.
> 
> Comments and kudos are much appreciated!! :)
> 
> -Alice


End file.
